Backups and restore

Backups save an encrypted copy of every project, with its secrets, settings, tags and notes, and everything in Recently Deleted. Backups are off until you turn them on.

Turn on backups

1. Open Settings and click Backups.
2. Click Turn On.
3. Type a backup password twice. Use at least 12 characters; a passphrase of several words is easy to type and hard to guess.
4. Keep the folder or click Change to pick another, then click Turn On.

The backup password can't be recovered. Without it, your backups can't be opened. Save it in your password manager.

Fidelius never stores the password. It keeps only a key that lets it make new backups without asking you.

Where backups go

By default, backups go to Fidelius Backups in iCloud Drive. Each backup is a new .fidelius-backup file named with the date and the Mac. Fidelius backs up about a minute after a change, and the Backups tab shows the last backup and whether it has uploaded to iCloud. Click Back Up Now to make one right away.

Click Change in the Folder section to send future backups somewhere else. Older backups stay where they are. Fidelius never deletes backup files, so delete old ones by hand when you no longer need them.

If backups stop working for a day, a bar in the main window says why. Click Open Settings to fix it.

Keep a copy outside iCloud

In the Backups tab, click Export and choose a place such as a USB drive. If you ever lose access to your Apple ID, this copy still opens with your backup password.

Check or change the password

• Click Verify to check that the newest backup opens with your password.
• Click Change next to Backup password to set a new one. Only new backups use it; older backups still open with the password that was in use when they were made.

Restore from a backup

1. In the Backups tab, click Restore.
2. Click Choose and pick a backup file, type the password that was in use when it was made, then click Open.
3. Fidelius lists every item as Missing here, Same as now or Different from now. Missing items are selected.
4. Select any Different from now items you want back, then click Restore.

Restore only adds what's missing unless you select a different item. For each one you select, the current value moves to Recently Deleted first.

Your other Mac

The backup key syncs through iCloud Keychain. Once it arrives, your other Mac backs up to its own folder too. If you changed the password on one Mac, the other asks you to enter it once.